Why I Am Excited for the Medical Women’s International Association Conference

It is hard to imagine being a female physician a century ago.

In 1914, the electrocardiograph (EKG) was introduced to the United States. In 1922, insulin was first used to treat diabetes. In 1928, penicillin was discovered in London and it was not until 1942 that it was used to treat infections in humans.

Founded in 1919, the Medical Women’s International Association (MWIA) is one of the oldest professional international non-governmental organization (NGO) representing medical women from around the world. The first meeting was held in New York with 140 guests from 16 nations. At that time, only four countries had medical women associations — United States, England, India, and Japan — as many countries barred women from studying medicine…